Thunderbird Online Blog

At a recent speaking engagement, Bill Gates had an open conversation with hundreds of university students about the future of higher education. He asserted that the next 10 to 20 years would see revolutions in computer science, medicine, and energy, but doubted major breakthroughs in higher education. Yes, we have more science on knowledge acquisition than ever before. Yes, there are pockets of educational institutions making learning more personalized and data driven. But given that education has not changed much in the past 20 years, and that market mechanisms are not good at organizing the sector, Mr. Gates believes major changes will not occur in the coming decades.

Do you have an upcoming conference that you will be attending in the near future? Conferences are an exciting time to escape from your daily routine and spend a few days with likeminded individuals. During these conferences, the question that always seems to be consistent is ‘How do you ensure you make the most out of the opportunities that conferences provide?’

Leaders responsible for deciding their organization’s international strategy all struggle to answer the same question: What is the ideal balance between global integration and local responsiveness? Although this question is most often asked by operations and supply chain professionals, it is certainly not lost on HR leaders in charge of training a global workforce. In fact, I would argue that the challenge for them is more monumental. Too much rigidity or too much flexibility in an HR strategy could not only result in wasted resources but in lost talent to competitors.

Our latest guest blog is from Emily Jantz, the course facilitator for Thunderbird Online’s Executive Certificate in Global Leadership. Emily graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in International Business, and Communication, from Arizona State University. She went on to complete her MBA at Thunderbird School of Global Management, where she served as a Thunderbird Student Ambassador. Emily has spent the past eight years in the Medical Industry, beginning her career with Johnson & Johnson. She presently works in Medical Devices for CareFusion, where she continues to explore her passion in working toward innovative healthcare solutions in the global marketplace. Her expertise includes strategic planning, market analysis, new product launches, and consultative selling.

Our latest guest blog is from Edward Matloub, the course facilitator for Thunderbird Online’s Executive Certificate in Global Finance. Mr. Matloub earned a double major in Economics and Management, and History from Beloit College, where he was awarded a Presidential Scholarship and Departmental Honors. He recently graduated from Thunderbird School of Global Management with his MBA. Mr. Matloub was the founding member and head of strategy for the Global Investment Group, a Thunderbird organization dedicated to educating individuals about finance.

If global pollution levels continue to rise at their current trajectory, they will eventually become unsustainable. For this reason, almost every major country has enacted laws to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including China, the United States, and Japan. International governing bodies, such as the United Nations, have also focused on creating legally binding obligations to limit fossil fuel emissions, most notably establishing the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 with commitments from 192 nations.

Did you know that Earth Day is celebrated in more than 192 countries each year? [1] According to the Earth Day Network, Earth Day is the “largest secular holiday in the world, celebrated by more than a half billion people every year.” [2] On April 22nd, it is important for us to come together worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental citizenship.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote some tips on how to plan for a virtual negotiation. Most of these tips were targeted at overcoming the challenges of negotiating virtually. But let’s be clear, it is also critical to focus on the “pros” of using the virtual space. Companies worldwide are not only focusing on these pros, but they are capitalizing on them too. Cisco Systems recently moved major sales training events to the virtual world. A billion dollar B2B company saved $1 million annually by holding its sales training virtually. Overall, companies can save between 50% to 80% on venue costs, transportation, etc. by “going virtual.”[1]

Thunderbird Online’s Executive Certificate programs are comprised of three 8-week courses that build upon one another and offer immediate return on investment. Online asynchronous session content can be accessed through Thunderbird’s online learning environment. Each session can be completed in 2-3 hours per week and includes a variety of activities that you will need to complete in order to achieve the learning objectives.

What is corporate social responsibility (CSR), and how do we “see” CSR in everyday life? According to Dr. Gregory Unruh, the creator of Thunderbird Online’s Executive Certificate in Global Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR is the idea of “business managers needing to think about responsibility beyond the traditional business goals of generating profit, due to greater social demands today than perhaps in the past.“ Within most organizations, corporate social responsibility is an integral part of a successful business plan. Because of this, on a daily basis we “see” CSR first-hand without even thinking twice.

CSR has been around for quite some time, but for most of us, myself included, we have only been “hearing” about it within the past few years. Included below are three examples of where you can “see” successful CSR initiatives first-hand.